Tag Archives: spicy

I’ve tried a lot of beef jerky brands in my day. My current favorite is People’s Choice. They’ve been making premium beef jerky since 1929, it’s handcrafted, family owned, and it’s made with 100% USA beef. They have a few different flavors, but Hot & Spicy is the best one. It’s hot and spicy like the name implies, but it’s not overly powerful. It goes great with a cold beer.

People’s Choice stands out because they cut their jerky really thin. It’s more like a sheet of jerky than a typical strip of jerky. It’s not as moist as some other brands but it’s not too dried out. It’s the perfect balance of meat and spice. Every time I offer someone a piece, they ask for another as soon as they finish. I’m torn because I want people to try it but I want it all for myself at the same time. I figured it might be easier to write about how good it is, sing its praises, and try to convince you to buy your own. The people have spoken, they’ve decided: it’s People’s Choice.

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A Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail. It’s vodka with tomato juice and spices and other flavors. It typically includes salt, pepper, lemon or lime juice, Worcestershire, and some sort of hot sauce like Tabasco or Red Hot. It’s often elaborately garnished with a lime wedge, olives, celery, maybe a pickle or onion, and it’s increasingly common to serve it with bacon, beef jerky, or some other smoked/salted hunk of meat. It’s one of those drinks that you grow to love. You probably don’t like your first sip of a Bloody Mary, but the taste grows on you. It cures hangovers and helps start new ones. A good Bloody Mary always starts with a good Bloody Mary mix. You don’t want anything that comes readymade from a bottle. You want to make it fresh. A good bartender takes pride in their cocktails and a Bloody Mary is one of the most complex drinks you can order. If it’s good, the bartender is too. As Vanilla Ice once said, “anything less than the best is a felony.”

I kind of wish that I didn’t read what was in it before I opened it. It looks processed and greasy and it smells how it looks. The thick skin gives it a little crunch and texture and the filling is kind of mushy. The spiciness kicks in a after a few bites and gets more intense after you swallow it. The spiciness lingers for a while too so make sure you have something to drink with it. I actually like it. It goes great with a couple of brews and the game on. Real jerky is always better but sometimes you feel like a processed snack stick.

The Sriracha hot sauce phenomenon continues with the introduction of Kettle Brand Sriracha Potato Chips. Kettle Chips are my favorite potato chips and Sriracha is my go-to hot sauce, and this seems like a winning combination. When you open the bag, you’re instantly hit with an intense pepper aroma. It’s like a mild spraying of mace in your face. You can tell that it’s going to be hot right away. I took a chip, popped it in my mouth, chewed and swallowed it. It wasn’t that spicy at first, but Sriracha is deceptive and that’s why I love it. Just when you think that you’re in the clear, it creeps up on you. Your tongue starts to tingle and the fire starts to burn. Your eyes might water and you might start to sweat if you’re not used to spicy foods. And that’s just the first chip. If you’re an amateur, I would advise not shoveling a handful of chips in your mouth because you’ll regret it. The Sriracha flavor lingers and gets hotter and hotter well after the chip is gone. It’s like shotgunning beers. You think that you can handle it and then it suddenly hits you and you realize that you made a big mistake. These are damn good chips. I just wasn’t prepared for them and now I’m sweating like a motherfucker. Make sure you have something to drink when you eat them and that there’s a fire extinguisher near by.

Sweet Chili Wonderful Pistachios are a brand of sweet-chili flavored pistachios. Dez are good nutz. Put dem in yo mouth and suck on dat. Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. Dez nutz just get me excited I guess. They are slightly above mild and slightly below medium on the hotness scale. I can eat about four or five of them until I start sweating a little bit. Wonderful brand pistachios are crunchy and consistent, with only occasional burnt or misshapen pistachios finding their way into the bag. The spice flavor on the shells might leave a little residue on your fingertips, but it’s nothing compared to the damage a Dorito does. It’s salty, it’s spicy, and it goes well with a beer. Give Sweet Chili Wonderful Pistachios a try.

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Krave is a brand of gourmet jerky. They make beef jerky, they make turkey jerky, and they make dried meat in different flavors. Most jerky flavors are the same. You have original, you have a hot & spicy, and you have a teriyaki. Krave’s Chili Lime Beef Jerky is a unique flavor, and that’s what initially caught my eye. I detect a spicy-hot flavor from the chili powder, and it’s offset by the zesty and citric lime flavor. It’s a nice complimentary flavor. You might sweat a little, but it’s the perfect amount of spicy. The jerky itself is thick cut, moist and tender. It’s the kind of jerky that you want to share so that other people can experience it, but it’s so good that you want to keep it all for yourself. Krave makes gourmet jerky, and jerky is the new microbrew. It’s going to blow up. There will be more brands, more flavors, and a huge market for jerky products. You can eat it in the car, on the trail, as a snack, or as a survival food. I will repost this article in five years, and you will see that I’m right in all my jerky predictions.

Lay’s Classic Potato chips are the stereotypical American potato chip. They are small and greasy and nothing special. Until now. Now they have a Sriracha-infused potato chip, it’s part of a customer contest that brought us a few other potato chip flavors, such as Chicken & Waffles and Cheesy Garlic Bread. The Sriracha flavor is probably the best of the bunch. The first chip you pop in your mouth tastes like a regular Lay’s chip. But as you start munching on more chips, they start getting hotter and hotter. The spicy flavor isn’t apparent at first, but it slowly starts building its intensity. It creeps up on you like a good sativa. The spiciness lingers long after each bite. You’ll be sweating after a handful. I think it’s the perfect amount of spicy. Less intense than Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, but still hot enough for a jalapeno lover. Give them a try.

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It’s time for some junk food and you’re kind of sick of chips. Cheetos are a nice alternative. There are a few varieties to choose from: Crunchy, Puffs, and they have different flavors as well. Crunchy Flamin’ Hot has been my go-to for a few years, but when I’m feeling a little more adventurous I’ll kick it up a notch and grab the Flamin’ Hot Limón. It has a little more zest. They are spicy enough to make your face sweat and that’s always a good sign. The biggest downside to Flamin’ Hot Limón is that they stain your fingertips red. They should come with a wet nap included in the bag like a Cracker Jack prize.